Today's Subscriber Article

The Top 7 Reason Why Every Business Should Have a Blog
Kenton Newby

It doesn't matter if you call it a "niche", a "target market",
your "ideal prospects" or some other term...if you're selling
products, promoting affiliate offers or simply creating content
online for nearly any group of people as part of your online
business, you absolutely MUST have a blog. These days, it's
just not an option if you truly want long-term success.

What used to be simple little online diaries have now become
powerful ways of organizing and offering content to a wide
audience of people dying for fresh, new ideas on nearly any
topic. If you're not using a blog yet, by the end of this
article you'll hopefully "see the light" and understand why
this is such an important platform to add into your online
business efforts. In fact, there are quite a few reasons why
you should seriously consider creating a blog for your online
business today, but let's just go over a few of them
in the interest of time.

1. Information-based Marketing Versus Hype

One of the biggest reasons to create a blog is for more
effective marketing. No matter what business you're in, it's
probably a more competitive landscape now than ever before,
with it getting harder and harder to gain the attention of your
prospects (people are TOO BUSY to be barraged with blatant
marketing). But with a blog, you can create valuable content
(audio, video, text or all three) that separates you from the
competition as your prospects are comparing all the available
options. And if you know that people are out there looking
for certain types of information that ties in with the products
and services you offer, you should DEFINITELY be offering
that sort of info on a blog, while also promoting your products
as solutions to those problems.

2. Demonstrate Your Expertise

Another great reason to have a blog is that they allow you
to differentiate yourself from the competition. In fact,
by posting relevant, useful info, you're positioning yourself
as the expert in your field. No matter what your product or
service is, everyone wants to deal with someone who's the expert
in their topic. Having lots of content available on your topic
helps you prove your expertise and builds trust with your
visitors. Those are the people you want coming to do business
with you - people that trust you and CHOOSE to do business
with you.

3. Generate Traffic for Other Products and Services

A blog also allows you to bring targeted traffic to your
website in a way that a traditional website just can't offer.
Blogs make it so easy to add new content to the site that
it's about as easy as sending an email. And of course, more
content means more traffic. Once you start getting more traffic,
you can drive that traffic anywhere you want...to your own
products, to quality affiliate products that earn you a commission,
to your email list and so on. Not only does this make your
blog a more valuable resource in the way it positions you
versus the competition, but you're also able to turn your
website into a profit center for your business.

4. Earn Subscribers' Trust and Build a Community

One common mistake people make with their sites is not building
a subscriber list...probably the most valuable business asset
you can have. This can be even more of a challenge with a static
site. Since none of the info on the site changes, there's less
of a reason for people to come back. And if that's the case,
why should they feel compelled to sign up for your email list?
If, on the other hand, you have great info on your site, they'll
probably want more. You can offer them something in return
for their email address...maybe a special report that really
solves a pressing problem they're facing, or an email course
that does the same thing. That way, you can create a list of
subscribers and build a relationship with them where they get
to know you, like you and trust you and your information. If
you have a community of subscribers like that, you'll NEVER
run out of business.

5. Build Online Business Relationships

In the same way that you can use a blog to build a relationship
with your subscribers, you can also build relationships with
other blog publishers in your market. This can be a vital step
towards creating partnerhips and sending traffic to each others'
sites. This is possible thanks to common blog features like
comments and trackbacks. Using these effectively gets you
"on the radar" of the other website owner and can be the first
step towards a profitable business relationship. Think of it
as a form of online networking.

6. Teach Your Visitors and Create Better-Informed Customers

Providing useful content to your audience also helps you educate
your customers and potential customers. And it's a proven fact
that educated customers are better customers. There's less
of a need to "sell" them once they're ready to buy, they're
more likely to use your product rather than have it sit
on the shelf, refunds will likely be lower and on and on. You
could have blog posts that address common objections or things
that seem like weaknesses in your product. You can highlight
what people will gain by using your product and your content
can offer tips for how best to use the product once someone
buys. This is similar to what you might do in a face-to-face
selling situation, but now it's done nearly on autopilot.

7. Generate Ideas for New Products and Services

As you get comments and other feedback from your website
visitors, there's a good chance you'll also get a number of
ideas for other products and services you could offer. You'll
get to know your audience, learn their problems, concerns and
challenges. You'll have an excellent opportunity to provide
products and services that solve these problems which will
not only be profitable for you, but will also help your
customers reach their goals faster and easier. That's a true
win-win situation and your website visitors will love you
for it.

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Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.
Helen Keller